Find Your Inner Hipster: How One Academy Member Beat Depression To Start A Juice Business

If you put pen to paper and drew a column with the number of people currently in your inner circle that would improve it versus the number of people that may drag you down, how many people would fall in one category compared to the other?

When we set our goals in the Academy, Brian shows us that it is your Peer Group that will determine the way we think, the way we act, and the way we approach life and our goals. As the saying goes, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

As Academy member and HypnotistPaul Hurley says, if you surround yourself with people who use their skills and resources to help you, you can achieve your personal or professional goals with less resistance and more ease.

When you join the Academy, one of the key points we ask you to take action on is your short video introduction. It is important not to underestimate the power this introduction has in helping us build a success network! Here is Paul’s introduction:The introduction video you make for the Tribe is the one key step that will allow others to see who you are and what your specific interests, skills, and goals are.

Since joining the Academy just 3 weeks ago, Paul is loving the Skype calls he’s having with members across the globe. Recently, he had a Skype call with an Academy member and Maori Tribe Leader Kepa Maika, and joked, “I don’t meet Tribal Leaders every day in Dublin!”

By following the philosophy of giving, Paul is making meaningful friendships, forming connections and links, and establishing joint business ventures with members from countries such as London, Las Vegas, Connecticut and New Zealand!

Finding business links and partnerships is a common theme in the Academy.

Just a couple of days ago, Academy members Inggrid Wardani and David DuByne shared their experiences after joining the community!By using the member search here, Inggrid and David met each other based on their shared location, Taiwan.

When they met in person to talk about their goals, vision, affirmations, and life, they kept each other accountable!

By looking for a dream board or a journal that would aid their creative process, they decided what they wanted wasn’t available on the market so they decided to create it!!

By setting specific goals, Inggrid and David are on the path to bringing their product to the market this year. As the first draft of their journal is printed next week, they are set to start a kickstarter campaign next month to apply for the funding they require to release their product to the market in April. Keep your eye here next week for exact details and photos of their new product!

In Tribe Talk this week, the focus has been on forming friendships. Here is a powerful story of want happens when Academy members form at least 5 connections with each other.

Member Interview with Dan Lemmon

Can you share some of the experiences that have had immense impact on your life?

“I am 43 years old. I am a single father to an amazing daughter. I was born and raised in Ontario. It was my mom’s desire to have her “hockey player” as she had quoted it. From an early age I was conditioned to play hockey. I excelled in hockey until I was 12. I had many great “coaches,” so I learnt hard work and discipline quickly. My parents divorced when I was 11 and it wasn’t a pleasant separation. My dad quickly re-married after the divorce and I didn’t take to the new environment quite well. This was a really tough time for me and I really couldn’t understand the “depression” I was going through. Running helped me cope with the immense darkness I was feeling from the disconnection of my parents. They used to call me Forrest Gump at school because I was running everywhere! I went to McMaster University where I ran on the cross country team. It was my dream to be a chiropractor but as I was finishing my 2nd year of university, my mom passed away from cancer. My grief was overwhelming and I struggled again with depression. My grades went down and I was expelled from university. Lost for direction, my aunt’s husband asked me if I wanted to sign up to be an electrician. I took the call and I have been in the electrical trade now for over 13 years now. I felt at the time I was at a point in my life where I needed to find a career. I always knew that it was a plan B.”

When did you start to gain clarity about your experiences?

“Well, I left the Academy in August of 2015 because I was feeling the “dark night of the soul.” After my eviction from apartment I fell into a really dark time and I felt extremely lost. I also was experiencing neck pain which is still a mystery to this day. I was seeking answers as to why my life was falling apart. I prayed for direction and at many times it felt like I was “dying.” I was looking for answers to my depression and my friend told me about a shaman that does ayahuasca. With the greatest expectation, I immediately signed up for a ceremony. I felt the layers of the onion peel away again. I was unlocking something, but it also unlocked a lot of the sadness from my childhood. The experience left me looking for more answers. I thought I was going to be cured of my depression, but it seemed to push me further into the darkness. I felt the need to return to the Academy because I was still connected to the Facebook Group and I could see the activity everyone was portraying. I felt lost but I also felt found at the same time. I knew that I was gaining new perspectives from other people in the Academy and I felt like I had found my Tribe. I resonated with Jon Waterlow because he was expressing his struggles with depression and this helped me feel that I wasn’t alone in my battle. I also gained a great friendship with you because you kept checking in on me to see how I was doing even after I wasn’t a member. Your talks really helped me to gain clarity with my direction and it was you that ultimately pushed me back into the Academy. From that point on, I felt I was on a new path. I came back to the Academy with a better understanding of myself, as well as a greater understanding of the need for connection and support.”

How did you seek out the connection and support?

“From seeing and observing what people were posting, being supportive to others, and from being vulnerable. I would often ask for help from the Tribe with my on-going health problems and my struggles with depression. For example, I posted a call for help with an inflammation issue I was experiencing. I was then contacted by Chris Albert and Savitree Surjoopersad, to give me some immediate one-on-one advice. From the original message with Savi, we connected on Whatsapp. She has helped me so much with my mental growth, it is amazing! Kevin McNamara has been a pivotal role in my desire to start a juice business. My health felt like it was going downhill, so after watching Tone Floreal interview Kevin, I approached Kevin as to what juices he was using that cured him of his health problems. We swapped resources and then I started juicing everyday while following up with Kevin as I was explaining my amazing success from juicing on a regular basis. On our first Skype call, I spoke to Kevin about a juicing business and the business has blossomed from there.”

What was the creative process behind your new startup?

“The idea of the startup came about about when I had built the float in my apartment. When I was growing up, we had these ice cream bikes that would cycle around the neighbourhood ringing their bells. They were everywhere and for some reason that memory linked juicing to these bikes. And that sparked the idea to get these bikes back on the road and sell fresh cold pressed juices from them. From this idea, I brainstormed on my whiteboard and I started sketching and “brain dumping.” I kept asking to myself, how can I make a new spin on these retro bikes and re-brand them to sell really healthy juices out of them. The inner hipster came out of me and I had the idea to re-mould the shape of the bike to look like a juice bottle, ultimately re-branding them into “The Juice Cycle.”

How did you approach goals before the Academy?

“I was pretty lost when it came down to goals. I knew I had a creative vision, but I seemed to lack the clarity with the direction. After watching one of Brian’s first Webinars on how to set goals, I was curious as to how these people were able to crush their goals? I listened a lot, and I took a lot of notes. I immediately went out and bought a whiteboard and I started brain dumping my ideas. It was a start. After that I listened to Daniel Priestley and his KPI Webinar and he really made a lot of sense. So, I started writing down my goals on my whiteboard. They were small details at first, which ranged from books to read, to dreams and desires I wanted to accomplish. This blossomed into affirmations my daughter and I started doing and we came up with 5 affirmations each and we posted them in our rooms.”

Have you found some business links through the community?

“I have found some business links. Marie-Judith Jean-Louis posted an event for Toronto Entrepreneurs of Passion and Purpose. At this event I made an amazing connection with Peter Assentoft, who is also a member of the Academy, as well as Jayson Gaignard, Giovanni Marsico, Mike Brcic, and Gillian Mandich. It was an amazing experience and I was so grateful to now be a part of this networking group. About 2 weeks ago, I started attending a holistic wellness business networking group which has helped me tremendously. I met an amazing women at this event, and we just had our first business mentoring call and tomorrow we are doing a creative vision board project. I have also scheduled my first meeting with the guys that started the group in Toronto called “The Man Kind Project.”

What should every new member know about the Academy?

“From my experience, every member should know it is OK to be yourself. The more you hesitate to interact or post great content, the more you are not taking advantage of the many people that can help you. Be supportive and comment on what interests you. You don’t necessarily have to comment or like everything on the Academy. Your user experience depends on you. What you give out comes back. Also, be interactive with Brian Rose and his many RealTALKs and interviews. Ask questions. Then team up with others on the Academy and chat about your experience from the content. From there you gain a better experience of the Tribe you are a part of.”

What’s next for you and what are your smart goals?

“My smart goals for this business are to create a business plan by the end of January 2016. Develop a logo and brand image for the business by February 2016. Brainstorm my target market and compile a list of events to attend in 2016 by March 2016. Attract an investor and complete the first prototype juice bike by April 2016. Launch the business by May 2016.”

Dan would love to meet Academy members who have knowledge to share about business investments, graphic design and web design. If that’s you, please get in touch!

Have you met your 5 connections today? If not, get in touch – I’d like to help!

Tribe Meetups

We are to Live Stream our Focus Group for the FIRST TIME EVER on Friday!!! To get access, please book here. Spaces are limited!Next, Academy member Chris Guerin is to host the first EVER meetup in Manchester. If you’d like to meet some Northern Realers, then book here and don’t miss out!

See if there’s a Meetup scheduled in your city here, and if there isn’t let me know what Meetup you’d like to see and if you’d like to host one!

Until next week’s Tribe Talk, have a great week, and if you’d like to get in touch with me, message me @noorahnaker – I’d love to hear from you!